17-letter words containing n, w, o, r
- wedding reception — party after a marriage
- weeping lovegrass — any grass of the genus Eragrostis, as E. curvula (weeping lovegrass) and E. trichodes (sand lovegrass) cultivated as forage and ground cover.
- weigh one's words — a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that distinguishes black·bird· from black· bird·. Words are usually separated by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages.
- welfare economics — a branch of economics concerned with improving human welfare and social conditions chiefly through the optimum distribution of wealth, the relief or reduction of unemployment, etc.
- well-demonstrated — to make evident or establish by arguments or reasoning; prove: to demonstrate a philosophical principle.
- well-proportioned — adjusted to proper proportion or relation.
- weston-super-mare — a town and resort in SW England, in North Somerset unitary authority, Somerset, on the Bristol Channel. Pop: 78 044 (2001)
- wheatstone bridge — a circuit for measuring an unknown resistance by comparing it with known resistances.
- whiskey rebellion — a revolt of settlers in western Pennsylvania in 1794 against a federal excise tax on whiskey: suppressed by militia called out by President George Washington to establish the authority of the federal government.
- wide area network — a computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area.
- wide-area network — a computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area.
- williams syndrome — an abnormality in the genes involved in calcium metabolism, resulting in learning difficulties
- wind chill factor — A wind chill factor is a measure of the cooling effect of the wind on the temperature of the air.
- wind-chill factor — the apparent temperature felt on the exposed human body owing to the combination of temperature and wind speed.
- winter heliotrope — a creeping perennial, Petasites fragrans, related to the butterbur, having lilac to heliotrope-coloured flowers smelling of vanilla: found chiefly on road verges
- woman of the hour — a woman honored by a group.
- woolly rhinoceros — an extinct rhinoceros; Coelodonta antiquitatis
- work-life balance — a situation in which one divides or balances one's time between work and activities outside of work: It's hard to achieve a reasonable work-life balance when you run your own business.
- working substance — a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.
- world without end — for ever
- worth every penny — If you say that something or someone is worth every penny, you mean that they are worth all the money that is spent on them.
- worth one's while — a period or interval of time: to wait a long while; He arrived a short while ago.
- wrangell-mountain — Mount, an active volcano in SE Alaska, in the Wrangell Mountains. 14,006 feet (4269 meters).
- wring one's hands — If someone wrings their hands, they hold them together and twist and turn them, usually because they are very worried or upset about something. You can also say that someone is wringing their hands when they are expressing sorrow that a situation is so bad but are saying that they are unable to change it.
- writ of execution — a writ ordering that a judgment be enforced
- write the book on — to be the definitive authority or expert on
- yellow journalism — a color like that of egg yolk, ripe lemons, etc.; the primary color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 570 and 590 nm.
- yellowstone river — river flowing from NW Wyo. through Mont. into the Missouri River: 671 mi (1,080 km)